International Simultaneous Broadcast of Game of Thrones Excites Fans

HBO has announced that it will broadcast the fifth season of Game of Thrones simultaneously around the world, which excites international fans over seeing Jon Snow once more.

About 170 countries all over the world will experience the joy of Game of Thrones at exactly 9 PM (US Eastern Standard Time) on Sunday, April 12, in their own time zone. The announcement arrived a day after a second Game of Thrones trailer was released during Apple’s new product launch.

The trailer shows Daenerys belittling the Lannisters, Starks, Tyrells and Baratheons as merely ‘spokes on a wheel’ she intends to break. There were also shots of Tommen and Margaery tying the knot, Stannis and his army invading the North and the favored Jon Snow in fierce combat.

International fans are excited to watch the season premiere at exactly the same time with the US, Canada and Europe.

Innovative Step from HBO

The deal between the show’s produce HBO and numerous key broadcasters around the world means the series will be aired live in Australia.

The international simulcast is set to coincide with the US broadcast of the show. Viewers from Sydney and Melbourne will see the show ahead of American viewers, where Game of Thrones officially airs three hours later.

A total of 15 broadcasters are included in the simultaneous broadcast, including six HBO-owned broadcasters: HBO Asia, HBO Nordic, HBO Canada, HBO Europe, HBO Netherlands and HBO Latin America.

Also participating are Australia’s Foxtel and New Zealand’s Sky, along with Israel’s DBS, Iceland’s 365 Media and Sky-owned broadcasters such as Sky Italia, Sky Deutshcland, among others.

According to HBO’s president of programming Michael Lombardo, the deal would cover 10 episodes from the fifth season.

“We’re thrilled to see our international partners jumping on board to bring Game of Thrones, one of the most universally loved television shows in the world, to global audiences at the same time it airs on HBO in the US,” he said.

“It’s going to be a great season,” he added.

Though HBO has not confirmed, the move was done in order to lessen illegal downloading of the show. This problem affects the sales and marketing of the series due to the impatience of avid fans. Another motivation for this move is due to fans’ frustration with unwanted spoilers. Due to today’s fast-paced technology and the rapid updates on social media, episodes are easily spoiled in areas with delayed telecasts.